This is where I publish my preliminary research notes and ideas concerning warfare in the Book of Mormon. This is a spot for civilians, military historians, members of the LDS church and anybody else who enjoys studying the military aspects of the Book of Mormon and its impact on the LDS Church, society and the field of military history.

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About Me

I have a B.A. from Southern Virginia University and an M.A. in History from Norwich University. I have presented or published papers on Napoleonic warfare, East Asian history, Book of Mormon warfare, and the American Civil War. In 2009 I separated from the military after serving 9 years as an infantry riflemen, squad leader and intelligence analyst.
I am the author of “Forming the Formless: Sun-Tzu and the military logic of Ender Wiggins,” “Offensive Warfare in The Book of Mormon and a Defense of the Bush Doctrine,” and "The Battle Experience in the Book of Mormon." I have authored numerous articles for the Encyclopedias of Military Philosophy and Russia at War. My books Ancient Warfare in The Book of Mormon and Decisive Battles in Chinese History are now available.
Currently I teach history at American Public University and several other schools. I studied in the MPhil/PhD War Studies Program at Kings College London. My political and military analysis can be found in Opslens magazine, Strategy and Tactics, Fox News, Strategy Bridge, Washington Examiner and other places.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

We’ll Find the Place by Richard Bennett seeks to describe the Mormon exodus as a seminal event in the survival of the church. (xv) He provides context by citing scholars and events known to American historians and most Americans while he also details the compelling drama and succession crisis that followed Joseph Smith’s death and Brigham Young’s claim to leadership. He succeeds in this endeavor through a combination of secondary sources, pictures, and primary sources.

Bennett does an excellent job of describing the condition of the “despised religionists” after the murder of Joseph Smith. Physically they were scattered with various claimants vying for leadership. The modern LDS church smoothly transitions between leaders. But in this period what modern members would view as the traditional leader, Brigham Young, only led as the first among equals. Bennett details in compelling fashion how the physical gathering and salvation of the church solidified his leadership and saved the church from fractioning with various usurpers.

In addition to the uniquely Mormon dynamic, Bennett integrates them into a larger American context. This is done through a repeated pattern. Bennett introduces the Mormon narrative through primary sources, then provides context with vivid non Mormon contemporaries and the best of secondary scholarship. Finally he moves back to the Mormon event where even mundane actions seem livelier.

The book has engaging prose, an impressive bibliography and a short historigraphic essay. Combined with the compelling contextualization of the Mormon experience crossing the plains and the background of the Mormon succession crisis this book is useful for Latter Day Saints interested in church history and for the non LDS audience interested in the pioneers along the Oregon Trail.